'We'll remember this one for a long time' – Kane Williamson

New Zealand had last won an overseas Test series against Pakistan way back in 1969, and their captain was naturally a happy man after his side repeated the rare achievement with a comfortable victory on Friday, 7 December.

"Fantastic performance," Williamson stated after the match. "Winning against this team in their backyard is pretty special. We'll remember this one for a long time. We knew that we had a game on our hand once we put up a decent score in the first innings."

But although New Zealand had begun the match well, there were ups and downs with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq scoring tons to earn Pakistan a sizeable first innings advantage, only for Williamson himself and Henry Nicholls to respond with tons of their own to set Pakistan a daunting 280 before pacer Tim Southee and spinners William Somerville and Ajaz Patel sealed victory on the final day of the series.

"The game ebbed and flowed the entire game. We didn't want to get ahead of ourselves. Our spinners were brilliant. They stood out," said Williamson, who was also Player of the Match for his knocks of 89 and 139.

When New Zealand declared early on the fifth day, Pakistan would have hoped to salvage a draw on what was still a decent wicket, but they were simply unable to string together partnerships. Only Babar Azam offered any real resistance with a knock of 51. Sarfraz was displeased with the batting effort.

"We didn't do well at all," he acknowledged. "We have an issue with the tailenders too. They are working hard but we need to continue working on this. That said, it's the responsibility of the batsmen to put less pressure on the bowlers. We also need to learn how to tackle the new ball better."